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Scott CountyPopulation 2000: 5,537

County seat: Winchester

Named for Scott County, KY
Scott County covers 251 square miles and was organized in 1839

Scott County History

SCOTT COUNTY, lies in the western
part of the State adjoining the Illinois River, and has an area of 248 square miles. The region was originally
owned by the Kickapoo Indians, who ceded it to the Government by the treaty of Edwardsville, July 30, 1819. Six
months later (in January, 1820) a party of Kentuckians settled near Lynnville (now in Morgan County), their names
being Thomas Stevens, James Scott, Alf red Miller, Thomas Allen, John Scott and Adam Miller. Allen erected the
first house in the county, John Scott the second and Adam Miller the third. About the same time came Stephen
M. Umpstead, whose wife was the first white woman in the county. Other pioneers were Jedediah Webster, Stephen
Pierce, Joseph Densmore, Jesse Roberts, and Samuel Bogard. The country was rough and the conveniences of civilization
few and remote. Settlers took their corn to Edwardsville to be ground, and went to Alton for their mail. Turbulence
early showed itself, and, in 1822, a band of "Regulators" was organized from the best citizens, who meted
out a rough and ready sort of justice, until 1830, occasionally shooting a desperado at his cabin door. Scott County
was cut off from Morgan and organized in 1839. It contains good farming land, much of it being originally timbered,
and it is well watered by the Illinois River and numerous small streams. Winchester is the county-peat. Population
of the county (1880), 10,741; (1890), 10,304; (1900), 10,455. "Historical
Encylopedia of Illinois, 1901"